A 3,000-year-old stone sculpture of the famed boy pharaoh Tutankhamun has been auctioned for 4.7 million pounds ($8.4 million) despite protests from the Egyptian Government.

Key points:

British auction house Christie's sold the ancient Egyptian artefact in London

It said it verified the ownership of the statue amid pressure from Egypt

Numerous countries and Indigenous peoples have called for artefact repatriation

The brown quartzite head, depicting the ancient Egyptian king taking the form of the ancient Egyptian god Amen, was sold at London auction house Christie's.

The sale triggered demands from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry that Christie's must show documents establishing the statue's ownership.

Egypt said it holds the rights to the Tutankhamun statue under its laws, but Christie's said it carried out "extensive due diligence" to verify the provenance of the statue and had "gone beyond what is required to assure legal title".

The 28.5-centimetre-high piece was in "extraordinary condition", with just the ears and nose damaged, according to the head of the antiquities department at Christie's.